Artist Statement

Faraz Ghorbanpour’s works describe how to navigate a politicized and oppressed world. Throughout his life, he existed in predominantly white and exclusionary spaces. Upon experiencing the realities of social structures in the United States, art became the escape from socially enforced ideas in daily life. On witnessing how hierarchical values affect his life, he studied political actions, uprisings, and movements aimed at racial, socioeconomic, and gender equality and justice. From crafting his own toys to studying in sculpture studios, he now expresses his ideas through stopmotion animation. The repetitive animations with a muted gray clay focuses the viewer on the actions taken in each video to see where we are caught in our own installed behaviors - Ghorbanpour reflects these instances in cycling animations. With messages meant to disrupt the minds of people, he inspires hope in knowing that people previously overcame these timeless yet contemporary issues we face today.